Wandering Around the Words

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Last year Lost Luggage Studios had an idea to put together an anthology ebook of stories set exclusively in our Terran Shift universe. This is the result — sevenstories from five authors, spanning the high-tech cyberpunk dystopia of the Bio-Tech Era to the Sol-Bect War Era:

The Berkutchi Trial by Alan BelangerAn American spy in Kazahkstan accidentally breaks local law and must win a berkutchi trial to get out alive.

Things Taken by Cynthia RavinskiOnly when you’ve put everything you have into obtaining your hopes and dreams do you find what you’ve really been after.

Handbook For A Better Society by Jamie Alan BelangerA misguided man bases his utopia on a satirical novel.

The Unders by Timothy LynchThe Landers and Unders are at war. The Landers just don’t know it yet.

Moroned by Paul J BelangerFortune favors the prepared. As for the unprepared, well…

Moon Sweepers by Alan BelangerYouth on a moon base learn the dangers of regolith mining.

The Sol-Bect Setup by Paul J BelangerIn a missing chapter from The Sol-Bect War, Part 2, Peter McCabe visits the past to lay the groundwork for his future.

This ebook is currently available in the Amazon Kindle Storeand will soon be available from all major ebook retailers.

I put together a comprehensive sample on the Lost Luggage Studios site that includes a short excerpt from each story. Read the sample here.

Jamie Alan Belanger earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of South Florida in Computer Science and worked for a small software company in Tampa for eight years before moving to Maine to pursue his own projects. He currently works for a company he started with his brother Paul, Lost Luggage Studios. His interests include computers, writing, photography, and designing worlds he’d rather live in.

A friend on Facebook asked me today what my favorite book was. This is the kind of question that I should be able to answer off the top of my head. I was stymied. I couldn’t just think of one. But to answer the question, I settled on K. J. Bishop’s “The Etched City” (I review it here) because it keeps popping back into my head and I keep wanting to go back and read it again. But there are just too many glorious books, which I am full of expectation for, on my TBR list. So I don’t re-read the book. What should I do? Indulge in “The Etched City” again? or plow through my list?

Later this week I’ll be featuring an editor, Rebecca Hoffman, and an illustrator, Zach Revale, from Grit City. Rebecca and Zach will talk a little bit about what they do for GCP. I’ll also have a post from the Emotobook creator and Grit City Publisher himself, Ron Gavalik.

Come by to see what these folks do to turn a text manuscript into an Emotobook, a new medium of fiction that simultaneously engages multiple parts of your brain for a saturating reading experience.

You’re at the grocery store, there are two types of Earl Grey tea that you like and they are both in stock today. Which will you pick? You know you like both. You know you will enjoy either one. But… Indecision…

You’re in the bookstore and you are looking at two books but you can get only one. You flip through each yet you cannot find a thing that sets one over the other. Which one is it going to be? Indecision strikes again.

Maybe it’s time to try something new? Maybe some Lapsang Souchong tea? It’s a Chinese black tea dried over smoldering pine needles (Twinings has it for the same price as Earl Grey).

For some time now, at least a few generations, paper books have been the “thing.” Corporations tried to start using electronic books in the 80’s to make carrying manuals easier and more efficient. It didn’t catch on very well. But in 2007 Amazon released the Kindle. I heard a lot of “that’s never going to take off,” or “who would buy one of those” type comments. And just look at what happened. The ebook world has been blown open. You shopped in stores and compared reviews online and you bought this newfangled technology. (Maybe you even left a review online—your experience will help someone else.)

Now you are sitting at your computer, or on your couch with your ereader of choice and you are looking at two ebooks. They are both by great authors, excellently written and only cost five or so dollars. No matter which one you get, they will read the same on your ereader. Still the indecision.

Maybe it’s time to try something new (do you see the pattern here?)

Not long after the ebook craze gathered steam, Grit City Publications was born. GCP has a new spin on reading electronically, and offers we who seek entertainment something new.

From the Publisher: Emotobooks have a unique style and structure, unlike any other entertainment form. Abstract, emotionally provocative illustrations are tied into each story to depict what characters feel during peak moments of tension. These expressionistic elements provide both a cerebral and visual stimulation, which enhance the impact of the experience.

From a Reader (Me): I am a very visual person. Colors and pictures have powerful effects on me. So, when I heard what GCP was doing, I was instantly enamored with the idea. EmotoBooks simultaneously engage multiple parts of the brain with abstract art that doesn’t tell you what to see in the story, and excellent writing for a saturating and transporting reading experience.

*Copy the next 7 lines (sentences or paragraphs) and post them exactly as they are written. No changing or cheating!

*Tag 7 authors and let them know.

So, page 7 lines 7-14 from the WiP:

Where’d they all go? Tolek’s heart raced. The dust. One moment he’d been standing behind his friends in the overgrown entryway to the Labyrinth and now, he stood in the middle of a flagged path, well-kept and level. The Labyrinth had done this, separated them so it could devour them alone, thwarting all their carefully laid plans. He was sure of it, this place was evil. He’d had a bad feeling since they’d seen it.

It was too late to back out now. They were here. He had no other choice but to find the others so they could ask their nine wishes.

Be it Known!

Today, Grit City Publications releases its first catalog.

Three titles of the world’s first exclusively-tablet fiction.

In this EmotoSingle fantasy of Finnish lore, what begins as a journey for Chrigle to win his place among the tribe quickly turns into a test of will and sacrifice. Can Chrigle save the soul of a demon’s spawn in order to protect his tribe and save himself from exile?

In the year 2229, cash starved prospector Mia Blancharde uncovers a valuable relic while digging in the Swing Zone, a wild, forested area between two contemptuous post-apocalyptic cities. Mia’s archeological find forces her to challenge the status quo…

Torn between the powers of love, her family, and her city, Mia must uncover the truth and avoid getting trapped on the wrong side of a perilous line.

When a young teenager named Nate releases a lifetime of ingrained racist contempt in what should have been a harmless encounter, the aftermath of blood dripping from his fingers becomes the least of his problems.

Suburbians is a heart-thumping EmotoSingle thriller, full of twists and turns that thrust us into the darkest side of teenage hatred and rebellion. Nate’s ability to feel hope and peace may be forever lost, along with his youth.

The term emotobook was conceived by GCP founder, Ron Gavalik, in 2011 to label Grit City Publications’ first exclusive tablet fiction medium, which heightens emotional awareness in stories with the use of abstract art.

Grit City Emotobooks are all fast-paced, imagery-heavy short stories or serial novels. But they are much more than that. Emotobooks have a unique style and structure, unlike any other entertainment form. Abstract, emotionally provocative illustrations are tied into each story to depict what characters feel during peak moments of tension. These expressionistic elements provide both a cerebral and visual stimulation, which enhance the impact of the experience. This is what really makes the EmotoBook a revolutionary form of modern fiction.

GCP designed EmotoSerials and EmotoSingles to deliver their vision of fast, exhilarating story experiences in 30 to 60 minutes.

Emotobooks are sold through major retailers, such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Apple iBooks. You can find those links in the Catalog of Titles. With these sources, just about any device with internet access will allow you to take part in the experience. Our fans are known to experience emotobooks on smartphones, iPods, and tablet devices. Some fans have also been known to read Emotobooks on their Laptop or desktop computers by using ereader applications. You can choose the free Kindle for Mac and Kindle for PC. Barnes & Noble offers the free Nook for Mac or PC.

Come experience The Emotobook Revolution!!

I found this story to be a great one. Filled with action and surprises it’s the perfect book to spend an evening with. It also had a moral to the story if you will. Be strong and face your fears. I think the writer captured the scene in perfect detail and made me want to keep turning pages to the end. I believe you will be as excited by this one as I am and be waiting for more books like this from the author.

I gave this one 5 out of 5 books because the detail placed you in the story so easily.

In a world of dark, Finnish-inflected magic, Ravinski conjures up a story of persistent evil and of grim duties. Some of those duties are evaded while others are bravely met, but either way, the consequences endure. And the story, too, has a way of staying with you after you’ve finished it.

Last week I went to Boskone 49 in Boston and this are the things I saw.

We got to the Westin early, which is unusual for me. So we were able to relax before registration even opened. A good way to start the con.

After registering I ran into an old friend from college who I haven’t seen in almost a decade. @stellamortis.

Then we went to the “Winter is Here: How Game of Thrones Plays on TV” panel with Myke Cole, Teresa Nielsen Hayden and Joshua Bilmes among others.

I couldn’t hold out any more, after that we bee-lined to the dealers room. I scored a Miskatonic U tee shirt Knowledge is Power! A pop up book about castles and the 2nd Prester John book by Catherynne M. Valente.

Adventures!

Then I ran to the panel about how to read aloud. Bob Kuhn moderated Bruce Coville, Justine Graykin among others and Greer Gilman (she was in the audience, but you can’t miss her). Voice lessons may be in my future.

I regret not going to more readings this time, but all the ones I wanted to see were during panels I wanted to go to. I did see all the speakers I wanted at panels though.

The Survive and Thrive in the New World of Publishing wasn’t as informational as I hoped.

I spent a lot more time than usual in the art show too. There was some really good stuff there this year from artists like David Lee Pancake, Kelly Kotulak, Carol Salemi. I even bought a print of Gary Lippincott’s “Roost.”

We actually left the hotel for Saturday night dinner. If you ever go to Boston and want seafood, I recommend the No Name Restaurant on fish pier 1. Delicious!

The best panels I did go to were How to Wreck your Career with Social Media. I knew most of the material discussed but it was a good reminder for the finer points, for lo and behold I had to use those skills shortly after returning. The panel on book covers mostly covered importance of layout and alternative methods for publishers who cannot afford to commission all cover art.